4 Troubled Teens Blog

One in Four Suicides Involves Intoxication

Almost a quarter of all people who commit suicide were drunk when they took their lives, according to a new report from the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Dr. Alex Crosby and his colleagues used data from 17 states that are enrolled in the National Violent Death Reporting System between 2005 through 2006, and found that 24 percent of suicides involved alcohol intoxication.

"The mixture of depression and alcohol abuse is highly volatile and potentially fatal," Dr. David Katz, Director of the Prevention Research Center at Yale University, said in a June 18 article by Steven Reinberg of HealthDay News. "Diligent, ongoing efforts to find and treat depression and to prevent excessive alcohol intake are needed so the two collide less often."

Other studies have established a strong connection between teen suicide and alcohol abuse. In February 2008, researchers with Georgia State University's Institute of Public Health reported that youth who begin drinking before age 13 are three times more likely to attempt suicide than are non-drinking peers.

Labels: suicide, alcohol_abuse

Posted By: Aspen/CRC